Indian Summer, Locust Winter
by SheerForce
Summary: They've saved the world and defeated heinous villains multiple times over but how well will the Z-Fighters fare against an enemy that can't merely be defeated by a single ki blast? There's a change in the air, and a deadly one at that! What is "Algernon?" Why are whole cities being razed to the ground? And what will Goku do...when he finds history repeating itself for the 3rd time!


One final move, a desperate gambit. Fresh out of ideas, this was it or nothing. Do or die time, the final act requested the last strains of his stamina, which was threatening to fade away at any moment. But still, overwrought muscles swayed with movement, as the Earth's greatest champion took flight to prepare his ultimate trump , battered arms creaked and sinew painfully stung from the friction of the gesture: arms stretched high over his head, straight as arrows; knees bending, feet dangling limply, refusing to co-operate further. On this unearthly stage, a handful watched on, eagerly desiring success, a much sought-for deliverance from the baneful brute's harmful destruction, while beyond the realm of sight, billions more souls, living and dead, good and evil, looked on with bated breath...

Phoooosh! The required energy began to gather en mass, forming the _super spirit bomb.._..

Then in an instant, his hands shoot outward, the colossal sphere begins to move, bearing down upon the wicked Majin...Until he was obliterated, deprived of all essence once and for all.

Goku had won out over villainy and tyranny yet again.

And so, after celebrations stemming from Goku's impressively personal conduction of the calamitous Kid Buu to sweet oblivion more or less ran their course, so did commence several years of enduring peace time like none the Sayian, or his family and friends, had ever known. After all their years of arduous training, all the fights they won, lost, the people they lived and died for, at last they could savour the entitlements familiar with elder years. Hanging up their gi's and wristbands, some of the Z Fighters settled down and began to focus on tendering for their families.

Krillin and Eighteen doted over their thriving Marron, savouring her growth to maturity. Gohan reacquainted himself with literature and furthered his education, becoming a scholar, while also adjusting to fatherhood with the arrival of sweetest little Pan, Videl contented numerous times by his various parental blunders, thankfully becoming fewer and fewer as time wore endlessly on. Yamcha favoured life in the city, while Tien & Chiaotzu tendered to a small farm. All but Piccolo retained a commitment to training in solitude.

And then, of course, that left Goku & Vegeta.

Two capable fighters in their twilight years, standing at the peak of their power...but without friend or foe to truly test their new-found might against. Like the others, they had also settled down to a family life...but favoured the chance to fight each other whenever possible. Once bitter enemies turned genuine brothers in arms, their mutual rivalry brought them painstakingly close to each other's throats more often than not. But, for all their fighting spirit, so, too did they seem to mellow with age...

Desiring to break habit and cut loose for the first time in the years since Kid Buu's defeat, they agree to meet in a field near Goku's humble home. On the day of the summoning, both intrepid fighters arrived, with Goten & Trunks, no longer mere kids but exuberant young fighters, brought along to observe. And so...

"Heeey, Vgeta! It's been a while, eh? Let's make this fight one to remember!" Goku announced as he took up point yards from Vegeta's position. As he fell into place, the saiyan stretched his arms and rolled his shoulders, pumping vitality into limbs that, contrary the last, overbearing use, had known nothing but stark idleness for too long. Additionally, in hearkening back to that momentous battle, Goku has retained his trademark orange gi emblazoned with his surrogate family's name, written in kanji, adorning the garment front and back. Beneath the gi he wore still a dark blue under-shirt with complementing wristbands and similarly hued boots and belt. After finishing his rudimentary warm-out, purely intended to get hyped up for what was to come, the vicarious warrior adopted a playful grin, as he watched and waited for Vegeta to get ready.

Undaunted by their difference in stature, the stalwart 'Prince of Saiyans' approached the theatre of combat. Vegeta, at one time a ruthless 'Saiyan Elite' who wouldn't tolerate fools and failure, let alone weaklings and 'lowly saiyans,' now found himself in the company of half-bloods and good natured Saiyans. How the times have change. A hard pressed frown forever creasing his mouth, Vegeta, too, took cues from Goku and commenced his own series of warm-ups and pre-battle preparation, allowing himself a chuckle now and again. _Look at yourself now, chuckling at what your greatest foe says, _reflected Vegeta, while he pulled tightly on his gloves. In contrast to Goku, he wore some new treads, an attire that consisted of a black tank top and sting-tied pants that together helped accentuated his rippling muscle mass. Certainly this man, other than the others, hadn't taken to the quiet life just yet.

"Just you wait, Kakarot. Today might very well be the day that _I_ come out on top," replied Vegeta with a smug smile, bending his elbows ninety degrees so that his forearms remained parallel to the ground, and perpendicular to his torso. Hands curling into tightly balled fists, Vegeta's smirk broadened more, dreaming of the glory just within reach. "Show me your best!"

Without any further adieu, Goku leaned on toe and rushed forward, gliding over the grass beneath him as if it wasn't there in the first place. Narrowing the gap in no time at all, Vegeta had mere seconds to adapt to his opponents advance, all hints of smugness giving way to tactical coolness. Bracing for impact, Goku dealt a rock-shattering blow to Vegeta's defending arms, threatening to pierce it. The force from that one collision alone send shockwaves rippling through the surrounding plains, prompting even their own sons, who were currently spectating from a small hilly verge nearby and were both young rivals and special in their own unique way too, gasping and reflexing in shock. Yet the exchange had all but warmed up, for immediately following the opener came a furious exchange of kicks and punches, hands and feet moving so fast that actions became an utter blur.

The sound of their clash echoed for miles around until Vegeta, spying a foolish gap in Goku's offence and went to exploit it. He threw a powerful right punch at his rival's abdomen, which straight away caused Goku to winch and double over, arms sprawling outwards in shock of the stunning blow. "_Heh,_" True to habit, Vegeta acted coy in the presence of his caught off-guard foe, and without remorse twisted his sunken fist clock-wise, digging his knuckles into the Saiyan's vulnerable flesh, driving him upwards with the same arm until gravity intervened and the two separated partway between ground and cloud. As Goku began to fall back to Earth, Vegeta wasted little time and moved quickly to Goku's side, his left fist opening slowly as he gathered some of his ki within it.

About to strike again, this time it would be Goku who would be the one to surprise and suddenly opened his eyes mid-fall to share a sly glance with the prideful warrior before flitting out of sight. Instantly alarmed, Vegeta tried to snatch the fast-moving saiyan with his other hand before he could get away but he was too slow. _Phow!_ Now it was Vegeta's turn to withstand blows, and quite a blow at that, for Goku, after using instant transmission stuck the back of Vegeta's neck with a crippling elbow thrust dealt from above. Physically shivering from the blow, the prince fell like a rock out of the air but retained composure at the last second to manage a landing, albeit spread-eagled, on all fours. He had just enough time to mutter a curse before Goku materialised right next to him, to his immediate right, a deeply concerning Kamehameha attack halfway charged between his clawing fingers. Unfortunately, Vegeta could do all but gasp and cross his arms to shield his upper body from the point-blank range energy blast.

"-meHA!" Roared Goku as he unleashed his signature technique, engulfing Vegeta, and a significant portion of land besides in a overwhelming stream of energy so large, that, even Goten & Trunks found themselves veering left and right in attempts to avoid the blast's biting range. Once the attack had faded and the residual dust clouds began to settle, the sheer scale of the single attack became all too clear; Goku had inadvertently carved a long path of rock and dirt that ran across previously untouched fields of crops and flora. Coming to terms with his blunder by way of a verbal, indiscernible sound, the dust had also cleared up near his position too and from its murky midsts did it reveal Vegeta, still standing strong and remarkably still keeping up the stance he so hurriedly took on before.

"Waaah..! But how..?!" Remarked a dumbfounded Goku, lost for words. Revealing this moment, Vegeta used it to take a moment's rest and lowered his guard, revealing a barely hampered or even marred countenance. Again, he laughed, confidently, vainly remarking; "Was that all? Because it barely even stung!" And he plunged into another heated close-quarters exchanges, this time managing to push Goku back, as all the while their sons looked on and laughed in amusement, enjoying this rare bit of entertainment, foolishly thinking that their fathers were the only 'threat' to this planet these days.

Oh how wrong they were.

-cueWriter'sCommentzzzzYaaaayyyy

Hi there, guys! I'm back with a new story~ (haven't forgotten about the other one, I swear!) What y'all think of my lil' 'prolog', eh? I decided to go with one to establish the current state of events, and as you've probably guessed, this particular DBZ event takes place during the ten year gap near the very end of the 'Z' part of Dragon Ball.

I /was/ going to drop hints of the antagonist(s) the good ol' Z-Fighters will be facing, but to be honest, I'm actually still working that part out. o_o;;

Tell me though...have any of you guys/gals ever heard of "Betterman," "Soultaker" or "Genocyber" eeehhhh? ;D

Pleassse, say tuned for more!


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